Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

I've always liked thrillers where the villain wins, but I never see it in action movies. Are there any?

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Avengers: Infinity War is one that immediately springs to mind.

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Watchmen (2009)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Empire Strikes Back (1980) Don't know if this counts since it's the "2nd act" of a trilogy.

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Oh okay, I saw Empire Strikes Back, but I wasn't counting it, since it continues on after that, and then the good guys win.

As for the other three, I never considered those to be action movies. For example there are not a lot of shootouts or car chases or things like that, hardly in them.

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Thanos won Round 1 of the Avengers something movie.

Here are the movies I remember...

Rosemary's Baby (1968) Rosemary's Baby. ...
The Wicker Man (1973) The Wicker Man. ...
The Omen (1976) The Omen. ...
Body Heat (1981) Body Heat. ...
The Vanishing (1988) The Vanishing. ...
The Usual Suspects (1995) The Usual Suspects. ...
Se7en (1995) Se7en. ...
Primal Fear (1996) Primal Fear.
Avengers Infinity Wars (2018)

I agree that few of them, except ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, are action films... ‘Guest’ 2014 might be one. Not that it’s proper action, nor is the protagonist evil, but the guy definitely doesn’t die and keeps going. . That was at least watchable. Also I think an argument can be made for ‘Valkyrie’ (2008). But I wouldn’t call them action films per se.

Otherwise, there’s plenty of low-quality horror where villains win, and I guess the ones where the plot is a bit more elaborate may count as action. ‘No One Lives’ (2012), Saw, etc...

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

More of a thriller than action but Arlington Road is a good one

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Oh okay. I didn't like Arlington Road from what I remember but it has it's moments :)

The only ones I haven't seen of the recommended ones are The Vanishing and Infinity Wars.

But I guess it's hard to find an actual all out action movie where the villains win, because action movies don't want to do that usually.

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Umm, excuse me, everyone . . . did we forget the greatest movie of all time where the villain wins?

No Country For Old Men

PS: I would like to see him brought to justice though. Guess that's not happening :(

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

The Dark Knight of course, and Life from 2017, if you consider that an "action movie".

It was mentioned above. Cormac McCarthy said Chigurh was the personification of all-encompassing universal evil, which is why he isn’t brought to justice, I imagine.

Yeah, gotta agree with Arlington Road,,..the ending of that movie really pissed me off.

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Oh okay, I didn't think The Dark Knight counted, since The Joker failed to manipulate people into committing the act, he wanted them to commit. Also, his back up plan also didn't succeed either because Batman took credit for the crimes in the end, so people didn't loose hope.

That sounds like one of those bad translations for movie titles :D

While typing I completely forgot which one was the first part. And I didn't bother googling!! It's Marvel after all!

A, Captain Steel already mentioned it. B, it's not an action movie anyway. As ironpony already noted, thrillers can have downer endings but it's much less likely for a straight-up action movie.

I think 300 might count since it frames Xerxes as the villain.

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

Oh okay, I didn't like 300 way back when it came out, but haven't seen it since. I can check it out again. Yeah I mean a real balls to the wall action movie, like along the lines of Mad Max, The Fast and the Furious, or Die Hard type action :).

Re: Are there any action movies where the villains win?
 

You really don't need to check 300 out again.

‘The Usual Suspects’ 1995 has some action elements. Can’t think of anything like ‘Mad Max’.